Isn't that called a sweatshop?
Trip Start
Oct 16, 2009
1
16
37
Trip End
Oct 15, 2010
Phi Phi, Krabi, Thailand
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
F you Phuket. The places in this world I hate the most never like to let me go. Like that time my flight out of Prague got moved up and I nearly missed that too.
But once I got on that boat, nothing could go wrong. And nothing did.
Koh Phi Phi has clear bright blue water surrounding its dramatic limestone cliffs. It really is a picture on a postcard kind of place.
It's a walking island, made up of one, village, Tonsai (Tourist) Village. The village is cramped and overrun with restaurants, hostels, market stalls, and dive centers. But I'll take this over Phuket anyday. Most of the tourists were young, much like myself. And none of that Thai prostitute/middle-aged white guy business that I keep seeing everywhere.
For our first stop, we opted for a beachside lunch, and then we plopped our tired asses on the beach. Turned on the iPod and fell right asleep for a few hours. Even without an umbrella, the sun and air were comfortable, no one hassling me to buy anything, very few people on the beach. Dare I say it was perfect?
Afterwards we showered, had a dinner of a fruit shake and Western food. I never did have a bad meal on Koh Phi Phi.
Many of our days were passed this way, beach, shower, dinner, and either sleep or going out followed.
The great thing about Koh Phi Phi was also getting to catch up with a few other people from my program, Sarah, Katie, Erica, and Susie... but I get to see Susie all the time because she's only 20 minutes away from me.
Our second day was without a doubt my favorite. For less than $20, we spent the day on a boat (unfortunately along with 2 OBNOXIOUS German ladies) and were whisked away to several of the island's best dive/snorkeling sites. I got to see SO many fish. Really pretty brightly colored tropical fish. I honestly don't have the slightest clue what most of them are called but I saw angel fish, shrimps, crabs, tons of coral, and fish in just about every color. Blue, turquoise, yellow, black, and purple too. Just absolutely awesome.
Our boat also made a stop at Bamboo Island for lunch, where I picked up a ton of coral that had washed ashore. Can't wait to turn some of it into jewelry! At the island, right offshore we walked in the water and there were several hundred fish swimming all around us. Luckily I bought a banana to feed them and boy did they love it! I threw the smallest piece of banana in the water and there was a frenzy over it!
We also stopped at Monkey Island, where monkeys come right up to you expecting food. Which is the case with all monkeys I've come across in Thailand. They clearly get very fat this way.
And lastly, after hearing the incessant question all day from the German's at every single one of the stops the boat made, "IS THIS MAYA BEACH?!?! IS THIS MAYA BEACH?!?!" Well we finally made it to Maya Bay.
Maya Bay is spectacular. But if you refuse to believe me, you can always read the book or watch the movie, The Beach... with Leonardo DiCaprio...? Ya, I wouldn't have heard of it either if I'd never come to Thailand to be honest. But in the movie, filmed on Koh Phi Phi Ley (the smaller of the Koh Phi Phi islands where Maya Bay is located) this beach is referred to as the world's most beautiful beach, and they also try to pretend that there's tons of marijuana being grown there but I saw no such evidence of it.
But back to the actual Maya Bay... it's well, a small bay, that's surrounded with limestone cliffs, a beach that has the softest sand your feet will ever touch, behind which are dunes covered with green trees and plants. There's not much else to do there but why would you want to ruin it like that. It's unspoiled paradise and they sure as hell do a great job of keeping it that way.
New Years Eve turned a bit more strenuous than we had hoped. We started the morning hiking up to the viewpoint overlooking the island. It was tiring and sweaty and we were dressed for the beach. We continued forward, hiking down the other side to this "beach" we had heard of. 45 minutes later and a steep hike downwards through an unmaintained path through the jungle we had arrived at another secluded quiet beach called Rantee Beach. More time was spent drifting out of sleep and listening to my iPod before we opted for the water taxi back to civilization to prepare for the evening.
Dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant and then to Jordan's Irish Pub, 3 for 1 bucket deals could not be passed up. We ran into so many people from our program that evening, always great to see some familiar faces. Then we headed to the rooftop Banana Bar, got our hands on some fluorescent paint, munched on some BBQ chicken and by midnight everyone had accumulated at the beach where there were several bars blasting music, lights, fireworks, and fire shows. Before I even knew it, Erica was telling me that there was 2 minutes left, to which the entire beach of people proved her wrong by screaming 5-4-3-2-1!
Back to the beach for New Years Day, Nice Beach to be exact. Laziness ensued, only to be interrupted by a delicious roti run. Which is where I got the title for my entry. Katie and Sarah discovered how truly cheap it is to have custom-made dresses created here. Bring the tailor a picture and she'll create a pattern, to buy the fabric, and to have her sew it, all costs a total of $15! (Much to my excitement) So Susie, who worked in England as a fashion designer for the last couple of years, got the idea that she would design clothes and have a tailor here create it and then she could sell it back in London.
The next day was our last and final day, we sipped on our last fruit shakes before boarding the ferry, and leaving paradise. Monday was a very long day at work.
